From Rehab Patient to Kickboxing Coach: Richard Vargas’s Story

By Carla Palmer

Richard Vargas, 35, is a coach at CKO Kickboxing River Landing, where he teaches a special monthly class in partnership with Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth/Jackson Memorial. The class, Special and Strong, is open to rehab patients with traumatic brain injuries and other neurological or physical disabilities. But what makes the partnership truly unique is that Vargas isn’t just a coach, he’s a former patient at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

“It was just a regular day,” Vargas recalled. “I went to the bathroom, and suddenly, I felt a very sharp pain in my head. It lasted for about 20 seconds; the longest 20 seconds of my life.”

The next thing he remembers is waking up in a hospital, blind and unable to move.

“The only thing I remember hearing was, ‘He has a brain bleed,’ and I started panicking,” he said. “I panic easily, and I just remember feeling so scared.”

Doctors at Jackson Memorial diagnosed him with a severe brain bleed. A 10-hour surgery saved Vargas’s life, but his recovery was just beginning.

“When I woke up, I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t do anything,” he said. “But I’m very grateful for every milestone and every bump in the road. That’s what made me who I am today.”

Vargas began rehabilitation at Lynn Rehabilitation Center, working closely with physical, occupational, and speech therapists. At first, he struggled with the emotional toll of recovery.

“I was bitter. I hated my life,” he said. “I hated waking up in the morning because I only felt pain. I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t do anything. The therapists would walk in all sweet, and I’d give them attitude. But they kept showing up. They got me out of bed. They helped me walk again.”

Through a lot of hard work and rehabilitation, Vargas was discharged from Lynn Rehabilitation Center. Once out of the hospital, he continued to push himself through recovery.

Determined to regain strength, he convinced his mother to take him to CKO Kickboxing River Landing in Miami.

“It took me over an hour to get from the stairs to the sixth floor,” he said. “I told them, ‘I used to do karate; I think I’d be pretty good.’”

He became a gym member, and just three months later, the gym offered him a spot on the coaching team.

Today, Vargas teaches Special and Strong once a month, a class that was born from a chance encounter with one of his former Lynn Rehabilitation Center therapists who happened to walk into the gym.

“We saw each other and just started crying and hugging,” Vargas said. “That was the sign. I knew I was meant to give back.”

The class brings together those living with traumatic brain injuries, amputations, paralysis, and other conditions – all seeking strength, motivation, and connection.

For Hector Perez, that’s exactly what he found.

Perez lost his legs in 2008 due to trauma and complications from diabetes. A former triathlete, he struggled with the physical and emotional toll of limb loss. He said Lynn Rehabilitation Center helped him reclaim his identity.

“I was an athlete, and then I lost my legs, gained weight, got lethargic,” he said. “But Lynn Rehabilitation Center, especially the recreational therapy team, is second to none. And what I love about the Special and Strong class is that it gets the most out of me. Boxing gives me the confidence I need.”

Ashley Herrera, a certified therapeutic recreation specialist at Lynn Rehabilitation Center, said the boxing program is a powerful tool for long-term recovery.

“What’s really special about this class is that it meets patients wherever they are – whether they’re newly injured and still inpatient, transitioning to outpatient, or years into living with their injury,” she said. “It helps reinforce rehab goals like strength, balance, mobility, and confidence, but in a real-world setting. It also builds community and peer support, which is just as important.”

For Vargas, coaching is about showing others what’s possible.

“I wanted to be that person to say, ‘Look, I was where you are. Now look where I am – and where you can be, too,’” he said. “You just have to train your mind and stay strong, because life is still beautiful, no matter what.”